a little birdie told me...

...that emily is having a release today

AND i just happen to have a card for today's release! It's a Mo from a series called the big guys and you must know that I am ALWAYS in need of masculine cards and these are coming at ya just in time for father's day!

I originally bought him digitally from Mo but starting today for you tactile folk he is available in rubbah from Stamping bella along with some other super duper terrific big guys. I'm sure you'll find one just perfect for the man in your life.

Actually, I did not color this one for my guy, even though he is a runner. I coloured this Big Guy jogging before leaving for Vegas to give to our buddy Darrell who vacationed with us and turned the big 5-0 on our trip. Yes it was also on that memorable day that I broke the wrist! Darrell is a die hard Lions football fan so of course I had to go with Lions colors here, and that would be little maxie that he is running with. the only thing that is missing is the sweat pouring off his face and I don't think I've ever seen him smiling on any of his runs either! LOL!

This is a pic of darrell and his wife colleen celebrating his birthday at Sergio's.

and yours truely with the DH, this was the day of the accident and I'm smiling cause the pain killers finally wore off and I could have a glass of wine at dinner! It is kinda blurry cause i lifted it off of colleens facebook!

that's it for today folks...off to do what i do best these days and that would be to lay on the sofa! you should all do what you do best too and head on over to Bloggabella to get a glimps of the new release and take advantage of 10% off your online order!

it's gonna be a long 6 weeks!

typically after dinner i would go off and color {sniff} and mark would lay on the sofa and watch a bit of TSN. But since this babe can't color, this is how our conversation went tonight...

linda: mark, come work on this puzzle with me
mark: why?
linda: because is a nice family thing we can do together
mark: that is if we were stuck at a cottage somewhere, not at home where we have cable TV

hmph!

class update and other things

if you haven't heard yet i had to make the agonizing decision to postpone this wednesdays class at pickle and the may 30th class at stamping bella. {sniff} no alternate dates have been set yet because i dont know when i'll be out of the cast and dont know if any therapy will be required before i can color again. at best, i'm thinking august.

next up, i have removed my cbox because since i have posted my accident i have had to delete at least 2 or 3 spam messages in there every day! like what's with that! here i am, physically and emotionally fragile and the spammers are on me! so i've replaced the cbox with a link under my profile if you want to email me....no spam please or i might have to remove that too!

finally, i'll give you a wrist update. i had surgery on friday to reset the wrist and they put in a screw to keep it set. because of the location of the screw it may have to be removed at a later date if it causes me problems because it is very close to the skin. not even thinking about that now though! the surgery went well and he said it went right back into place easily...whew! that is good news. aside from the break, my thumb has been quite numb and i asked about that...he said there was no nerve damage so that should go away in time.

the cast i have now is tempory and VERY heavy! i am sure the sucker weights at least three pounds which will be a good excuse when i get weighed in at WW on tuesday. paulabella is coming over tomorrow with a key lime pie and we are gonna smoke ribs again...i am pretty darn sure by tuesday the cast will weigh 4lbs!

here is a pic of my giant club arm. next week they will take it off to remove the stiches and fit me with something a bit more sleek. i'm hoping it will be pink!

aside from the obvious challenges of having your primary arm bundled in a cast the most difficult thing has been keeping my hair all perfectly straight and sleek! okay, it is more than difficult, it is impossible to do on my own so last wednesday i decided to let it dry au natural. this is actually a GOOD picture because when hubby came home from work the first thing out of his mouth was

"what happened to your hair?"

we have since worked out a process where he handles the brush and blow dryer and i use my good arm to manipulate the hair onto the brush...when he tried to do it all himself we discovered that vidal sassoon he is not!

well, this is about all the one handed typing i can handle today. i'm gonna finish my coffee, put a brisket on the smoker and spend another day elevating the broken wing.

What happens in Vegas...

...stays in Vegas

unless you manage to break your wrist and come home in a cast and a distal radius fracture in your right wrist! yes folks...i am right handed and this SADLY is my colouring wrist!

this pic was taken in the hospital waiting room! yes, that is a smile, but i was really doing my best to put on a brave front in the midst of level 8 pain and a hubby who was feeling as bad (or worse) than me! do you have any idea how much a wrist fracture hurts! after asking for morphine i actually fainted! and i'm a pretty tough cookie when it comes to pain!

i got some x-rays which confirmed the break and they stabilized the arm for the rest of the trip.
generally with this type of fracture they don't do anything until the swelling subsides so i was in no immediate need of further care and could suck it up and enjoy the rest of the trip. which i did!

next day we spent the afternoon at the spa in ceasars palace and for 50 lustrous minutes (and 3 times that much money!) i forgot my wrist was broken! heaven i tell you! pure heaven! that evening we ventured to freemont street where i played blackjack at a table for my first time EVAH! i came out 50 bucks ahead and that made me happy since i am NOT an aggressive gambler. a bit more shopping (MUCH less than i would normally do) and a show rounded out the trip.

in case you are wondering... the wrist was broken on a FREAK fleight line (zip line) accident...even the hospital confirmed that this has never happened. everyone was wonderful and i can't thank enough the folks at bootleg canyon and st. rose dominican hospital for their care! they were all wonderful, especially casey who wanted to carry me down the canyon! crap...his adrenaline must have been really flowing just in order to pick me up!

today i saw the orthopedic surgeon and we have opted to go ahead with surgery and reset the wrist. surgery or not, i'd be in a cast for 6-8 weeks so might as well get it fixed now.

sadly, (VERY SADLY!) my colouring days will be on the back burner for the next few weeks until i get use of my hand back! but I WILL BE BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I promise! and i will be back colouring up stamping bella and mo goodness!!!!!!!

until then...i guess i'll be doing puzzles! thanks kath!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Brown, Pink and Green Friday

Hi Everyone! It's Bellarific Friday and our challenge this week was a color challenge. Light Pink, Celery Green and Brown to be specific! LOVE LOVE LOVE the combo!

With a color challenge I find it easiest to look thru my VAST stash of paper first and find something that fits the bill. Basic Grey's Kioshi stepped up to the plate. There was limited brown in the paper, but I compensated for that with mounting Execubella with a layer of brown. That would also explain why I have SOOOOO many layers there...I TOTALLY FORGOT about the brown! But in the end, I completed the challenge and used all the required colors!


I LOVED Execubella the moment I saw her! Like seriously folks, who WOULDN'T WANT to go to work if your desk was clean and PINK with a pale pink carpet underneath and a big retro looking green chair! Come on! This is my DREAM DESK! Albiet, that chair is probably NOT good for my back...but you've got to sacrifice something to look so HOT behind a desk! I think she might even be wearing club-wear! YUP...I'm still in Vegas and by now I've likely zip lined Bootleg Canyon, played Black Jack at a table (a first for me!), and spent a day at a spa in Ceasar's Palace after clubbing all night.

Disclaimer: This is a scheduled post...hopefully I'm still alive after zip lining! (Do you know that I am MORE nervous about playing Black jack at a table than I am about zip lining!...SERIOUSLY!

And since I used a reasonable amount of markers here I'll list them for ya:
E000, 00, 11
E40, 42, 43, 44
BV000, 00, 11
R000, 00, 39, RV11, 32, 34
G40, 12, 14, 24, 21

Now...just in case I don't survive the zip line I'll fill you in on next week's challenge. It is a sketch! I'm sure that makes a lot of the sistah's happy cause I know you allllll lovey the sketches! This one is compliments of our own uber talented Jeanniebella! Let's WOW her cause there ain't nothing that makes one happier than to see cards created from a personal sketch!

See ya next week! Hopefully I survived the zip line and I'm back colouring again! Just in case I didn't survive...I LOVE YOU ALLLLLLL!

SOOOOOOOOOOOO Jazzed!

Wanna know why? Well because tomorrow I'm leaving for Vegas with the hubby and two of our very bestest friends Darrell and Colleen! I'm sooooooooo excited I can't stand it any longer! We have lots of stuff planned, and lots of relaxing to do. But remember, what happens in vegas, stays in vegas so I don't know how much I'll be able to tell ya after the trip! LOL!

So, for those who have asked me questions via my c-box or email, I will get back to you but it will have to wait a bit until I'm back from Vegas...this babe still has LOTS to get done tonight before she hits the pillow! And let me tell ya, that pillow is calling my name cause I was up till 12:30 last night finishing a card for Darrell who will ring in the big 5-0 on our trip!


To celebrate my much needed and much anticipated vacation I bring you So Jazzed! She is a Mo Manning image permanently etched in rubbah available at Stamping Bella! Remember, unless you are realllly good at backing things up, digi's can crash with your hard drive, but rubbah lasts forever! And who can resist the touch and smell of new rubbah!

As always, she was stamped with Brilliance Graphite Black ink on Bella's bestest paper (and it IS the best!). I started colouring her with copic markers but ended up using a LOT of pencil on her. I just couldn't get the colours the way I wanted with the markers so pencils came to the rescue! I was immediately drawn to this image the moment I saw her on Mo's blog so needless to say I was JAZZED when it came out in rubbah. I think she might just represent my inner self and how I would like to live my life.

See ya Friday for our weekly challenge...remember...Brown, pink and green! Let loose! Get creative...it's good for the soul!

surprise! no izzie today!

Nope...it's a Mo! Our Bellarific challenge this week was to use flowers...use them in our image, on our paper, as an embellishment...anywhere!


I had vintage on the brain and wanted to go with my gut instead of trying to go with the weather and do something bright and springy. Could be 'cause I'm really not in a bright springy mood this past week. When I got home from work today, hubby took one look at my drained and tired self and asked if there was enough wine in the house! Not to worry...this time next week I will be in Vegas with hubby and two of our very best friends letting loose, relaxing, having fun, dressing up, clubbing, eating, zip lining (YES..i am going zip lining!) and who knows what else!

To go with my vintage feeling I chose to match up Stamping Bella's Mo image of Ruby with some Basic Grey Kioshi paper and some simple neutral Hero Arts flowers. Ruby was stamped on Bella's bestest paper and coloured simply with copic markers (meaning I did not add a lot of shading with the markers) and just about all of the shading was done with prismacolor pencils and gamsol. If you look close, using the pencils over the gamsol is how I achieved the translucent layer of colors in her dress and hat! To finish it up I carefully added some very teeny tiny dots of liquid applique to the pearls on her necklace. I wish I had not mailed off Lulu's fuschias to my mom for mother's day because I would have sent her this card instead. This was SOOOOOO me as a child. My cousin and I would spend the weekend at our grandmothers house and play dress up for two solid days in my mom's wedding dress and old bridesmaids gowns. What fun we had and what good memories Ruby brought back as I coloured her!

Ready for next weeks challenge? It is a color scheme and oh what fantastic colors they are....Chocolate, Light Pink and Celery Green! Are you swooning? I am 'cause I LOVE these colors! And hey, if you are sketch challenge like me, why don't you find a sketch from some of the awesome sketch challenge blogs out there, color up a bella image with these colors and submit to both challenges! What a concept! I might try it!

...and today, Izzie has a cupcake

Seems I was on a bit of an Izzie trend! But I love them...that wild curly hair (that I wish I had) those cutie girlie vintage dresses (that I wish I looked good in) and the darling little shoes with ankle sox (okay, i draw the line there!)


This is Izzie with a cherry on top from Stamping Bella. Like just about EVERY card I make, she was stamped on Bella's bestest paper and coloured with copic markers. I love the turquoise/red color combo and when I think of cherries (or apples) I always seem to want to use gingham ribbon...they just seems to go together!

Another thing I should point out is that she was coloured on white, but cream would have looked better with the cosmo cricket paper. No problem, I'll just sponge the edges with some wheat ink...BUT there was a problem...I forgot all about it and went ahead and stitched. ACK! they was NO WAY I was gonna put the stark white image on that DP so I sponged anyway...know what?...it makes little difference! Ya sure, it will stain your stitching a bit, but NOBODY would ever notice but you! So if you want to go back on some of your existing cards that have been stitched and add some sponging of color...go for it!

That is about it for today. I've been in a technical training course all week and that is more exhausting than sitting at my desk all day! You can't turn it 'off', even for a moment without losing track of what the instructor is saying. It makes for ONE TIRED BRAIN DEAD BABE at the end of the day! So now, I'm gonna turn it off...my brain, and the computer...and lay my tired self on the sofa and watch some Criminal Minds!

Till Friday!

Izzie has a cake!

Not just any ole cake...this one is fashioned after the most fabulous Grasshopper pie that has been a summer fav in my family for years. A frozen pie with an Oreo cookie crumb crust and a rich peppermint filling....seriously folks...I don't have much of a sweet tooth, but this is TO DIE FOR...I'll add the recipe at the end of this post.


I stamped little Izzie has a birfday cake on Bella's bestest paper in Brilliance ink, coloured her with copic markers and gave her a chocolate cake with peppermint frosting. What do you think of that YELLOW dress! shocking! I am not a fan of yellow but I gave it a whirl. I started with Y00, 11 and 15 but to warm up that Y00 before adding the other colors I added a layer of YR0000. I find the Y00 alone is a little to cool looking for my taste so the layer of YR0000 warms it up just enough without making it look orange.

Now, speaking of warm...I got myself a new culinary toy a couple weeks ago...a Bradley Smoker! Oh MY! Whenever Mark and I travel to the southern states we never miss an opportunity to feast on BBQ...BBQ ANYTHING, but especially ribs. We LOVE smoked ribs and prefer them dry over wet. I CRAVE them sometimes. We did find a really good smokehouse in Detroit called Slows BBQ which is fantastic, but sometimes this babe just doesn't want to leave the comfort of her dwelling and travel over an hour for a half rack of ribs! (I could be colouring!) Bradley smoker to the rescue and these are my first attempt! My brother has been smoking all kinds of meats and sausages for years and gave me some tips but in true sisterly fashion, I ignored some of them and went with my own gut. This does take some trial and error, but I must say for my first attempt...THEY WERE INCREDIBLE!!!!!!!!!!!!! I just hope I don't make them so often that I get sick of them! Next up on the smoker....I wanna try a beef brisket!

Finally, for the Grasshopper Pie recipe. Sorry if it is sketchy but this is how I had it written down...I'm NOT the pioneer woman!!

Filling:
1/4 cup milk
2 cups heavy cream whipped
peppermint extract to taste
green food colouring (enough to make a nice minty color)
1 jar marshmallow cream
-combine milk, marshmallow, extract and food colouring
-mix until well blended
-fold into whipped cream

crust:
24 oreo cookies crushed with a rolling pin (yes...the filling and all!)
1/4 cup melted butter

press the crust into a pie plate (reserve a spoonful)
pour in the filling
sprinkle the reserved spoonful of crumbs on top
freeze several hours

enjoy!